Alaska: Senate Says Governor's Staffers Committed Contempt; Resolution Clarifies Legislature's Authority in Subpoena Cases - By a vote of 16 to 1, the State Senate on Friday passed Senate Resolution 5, stating that ten Palin Administration employees who did not comply with legislative subpoenas last fall committed contempt.

"During the Monegan investigation, we were reminded that the legislative branch's power of subpoena is an important one, and must be respected by the executive branch," said Senator Hollis French (D-Anchorage), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which sponsored the resolution. "With this resolution, the Senate is making it clear that we are a co-equal branch of state government."

Last September, the Judiciary Committee issued subpoenas to ten executive branch employees in connection with the investigation into the circumstances surrounding Governor Palin's firing of former public safety commissioner Walt Monegan. Attorney General Talis Colberg challenged the validity of the subpoenas, and the witnesses did not appear as ordered to testify before the committee.

"It was very frustrating to many legislators, in both parties and in both the House and the Senate, that the administration refused to honor our subpoenas." French said. "As the Superior Court later affirmed, the legislative branch clearly has subpoena powers, and the subpoenas were valid and legal. Today's resolution is not about re-fighting old battles; it's about making sure the legislature will be able to play its traditional, vital role in the democratic process in the future." - More...
Monday - February 09, 2009

Alaska: VILSACK DELAYS IMPLEMENTATION OF SPECIAL FOREST PRODUCTS AND FOREST BOTANICAL PRODUCTS FINAL RULE - REOPENS COMMENT PERIOD - ecretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack recently announced the delay of implementing the Sale and Disposal of Special Forest Products and Forest Botanical Products Final Rule until March 30, 2009. The delay will provide the public an additional 30-day comment period ending March 2.

"In keeping with President Obama's recent pledge for a more transparent and inclusive government that works for the people, this extension will afford the public an opportunity to participate in the rulemaking process," he said. "This rule is especially important to American Indians and Alaska Natives and we want to make sure that they, and other stakeholders, have an opportunity to have their voices heard."

The rule establishes regulations for the sustainable free use, commercial harvest and sale of special forest products and forest botanical products from National Forest Service lands. - More...
Monday - February 09, 2009

Alaska: ALASKA MARINE DEBRIS DATABASE UNVEILED BY MCAF; Google Earth-based platform shows cleanups, surveys, reports - Information on marine debris cleanup efforts in Alaska - past and present - has been compiled by the MCA Foundation into a Google Earth based database that is now accessible over the internet. The database identifies areas cleaned and surveyed with links to photos with reports of the volume removed and other statistics.

"Since MCAF joined the fight against marine debris in 2003, we've removed over 1 million pounds of marine debris from Alaska's shoreline, but much more work remains to be done," said MCAF executive director David Benton. "This database will help future planning by showing locations where debris accumulations have been identified through surveys, and where cleanups have taken place. It also provides historical data on efforts to identify and remove accumulations of marine debris." - More...
Monday - February 09, 2009

Alaska: Defendant Sentenced to 25 years for kidnapping in Muldoon - District Attorney Adrienne Bachman announced Friday, that Doug McClain, a resident of Anchorage, was sentenced for convictions stemming from the torture of two women in a trailer located in Muldoon in April of 2007. A jury convicted the defendant and his two codefendants-Annie Shinault and Brenda Cleveland-in June, 2008. Shinault was sentenced to 51 years for her participation in the offense in October of 2008. Cleveland is set for sentencing in March.

According to the trial prosecutor, Ben Hofmeister, Superior Court Judge Patrick McKay imposed a composite sentence of 25 years and 180 days for McClain's conviction for (1) Kidnapping; (2) Assault in the Third Degree; (3) Misconduct Involving a Weapon in the Third Degree; and (4) Two counts of Assault in the Fourth Degree. - More...
Monday - February 09, 2009

Alaska: State offers hepatitis B shots for high-risk adults; Special program available for a limited time - The Alaska Department of Health and Social Services is continuing its limited-time program of offering free hepatitis B shots to high-risk adults. The program, which is funded by a special federal grant, covers the cost of the vaccine for the three-shot series. Vaccine is expected to be available into 2010.

Hepatitis B is passed by contact with infected blood and other body fluids. According to the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, hepatitis B affects the liver, causing anything from a mild illness lasting only a few weeks to a serious long-term illness that can lead to liver disease or liver cancer. - More...
Monday - February 09, 2009

DAVE KIFFER: Winter Travel As Easy As (No) Pie - In the winter, you "takes your chances" when it comes to travel in Southeast Alaska.

The most calming ferry ride can suddenly turn into a wild bucking bronco when a ship makes a turn into a Southeaster hauling up one of The Straits or moves into "unprotected" waters.

And plane flights can end up - well, they can end up in somewhere you didn't intend to end up.

For example, some Alaska Airlines passengers ended up in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory recently. That must have been interesting for those not carrying passports or "loonies."

It could have been worse. I guess another Alaska Airlines flight recently left Mexico and ended up back in Mexico - after spending the night in Portland!

But, as usual, I digress.

Anyway, I had the pleasure of some travel re-arrangements recently. And no, I didn't get to go to Mexico on my Ketchikan to Juneau flight, although that is an "overhead" we can all get behind.

The fault was - naturally - completely mine. Primarily because my wife and I decided to play fast and loose with the air traffic gods. Charlotte was out of town for several days and I decided to schedule a trip north on the day that she got back.

But wait - there's more!

We decided to get all fancy and make it so that I would leave on the flight that she would come in on. Therefore, we wouldn't have to worry about getting someone else to look after Liam. I would take him to school in the morning and Charlotte would pick him up after her flight got in.

Easy peazy, lemon squeezy, as Liam likes to say.!!

Natch, the gods of air traffic didn't much care for our family assumptions about flights coming and going as scheduled.

Charlotte's flight from Seattle overheaded Ketchikan.

So I had to scramble to "rebook" my flight north for later in the evening and then make arrangements for Liam to bunk out elsewhere for the night (thanks Betty and Kerry!).

Meanwhile, Charlotte and others on the flight ended up in Juneau for a fun-filled one day visit.

The snow had stopped by the time for my newly booked flight to Juneau later in the evening so I was able to board and head north. - More...
Monday - February 09, 2009

Public Meetings Ketchikan Borough Assembly Agenda and Information Packets Ketchikan City Council Agenda & Information Packets Ketchikan School Board Agenda & Information Packets Ketchikan Police Report AK Troopers Daily Dispatch Today's Forecast Satellite Today's Weather Images Marine Forecasts Ketchikan Weather Data Current AK Weather Map CLASSIFIEDS Publish ad Please select the proper category before posting. CLASSIFIEDS' CATEGORIES Announcements and       Help Wanted For Sale / Free Stuff Garage Sales Homes / Apts/ Property Pets Wanted Lost & Found Local Services Publish your ad February 2009 Front Page Archives S M T W T F S 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21  22  23  24  25  26  27  28 More Front Page Archives

Performing Arts Center By Rodney Dial - Congratulation to Lallette Kistler and the Arts Council regarding their efforts to secure a borough endorsement of $500,000 Cruise Ship funds for a performing arts center. - More...
Thursday PM - February 05, 2009

BAILOUT, DON'T WORRY, BE HAPPY? by Ken Bylund - Go on the internet and ask 'what is in the bailout bill'. You won't find anything... biggest, best kept secret and We shouldn't be cautious or suspicious of aristocrats running government? Does anyone think GM will change if we give them billions [that's thousands of millions] of dollars? Who believes it only postpones an inevitable collapse of a corrupt and dying industry? Why is that a good idea? Bernie Madoff should've been stopped when he began the world's 2nd biggest ponzi scheme... show of hands on that? So, SEC is incompetent or worse? Is corruption in government responsible for our owing $10,674,204,242,448 or nearly... Eleven - Thousand - Billion-dollars; roughly $35,000 dollars for every citizen - 300 million of us. American money is worthless, promissory notes for what? Don't worry? - More...
Thursday PM - February 05, 2009

Taxes By Dustin Hofeling - This is in response to Mr. Carro's assessment of sales taxes in Ketchikan. I agree wholeheartedly with his assessments. Taxation is necessary to pay for road maintenance, utility lines, etc. We simply cannot go without taxes. However the idea of raising taxes is a death spiral. As more money comes in, the government will spend more, which requires more money, which induces more spending. It is hard for the government (or any other entity) to get out of such a chain of events. - More...
Thursday PM - February 05, 2009

Fireside Pork By Dan McQueen - In this time of budget cuts, layoffs, bailouts, states [Calif] going bankrupt, the very last thing Ketchikan needs is to go into DEBT for a Performing Arts Center! As this summer will prove, people ain't got the money to CRUISE so that money will DRY UP! We can't afford another remodel rental. - More...
Thursday PM - February 05, 2009

Roads and Bridges to SOMEWHERE By Alan R. McGillvray - While I may agree that Nome needs road communication with the rest of the state, I say that a road to Hyder, AK and Stuart B.C., with its attendant bridge from Revilla Island to the Mainland would probably better serve the State of Alaska. - More...
Thursday PM - February 05, 2009

PERFORMNG ARTS CENTER??? By Charles Edwardson - I also agree with the Borough Assembly's decision to endorse the performing arts center with the head tax fund we receive from tourism and with the decision to explore the old Fireside building for the location. - More...
Thursday PM - February 05, 2009

Re: Offensive By Hunter Davis - Thank-you Gerry. - More...
Thursday PM - February 05, 2009

Middle Class Bailout By Jim Thompson - While the letter was a bit long winded & more than a bit highfalutin for my taste I whole heartily agree with Mr. Hanger. If all the money that is being given to bailout the business that are so critical to our Nation's Economy was actually given to the American Citizens that actually spend money that keeps our Economy working, the BIG BUSINESSES WOULD NOT NEED A BAILOUT!!!!!!!! - More...
Thursday PM - February 05, 2009

Senator Murkowski's vote By Al Johnson - Well, Senator Lisa Murkowski (RINO-Alaska) voted for Eric Holder to become the U.S.Attorney General. Remember Holder from the Clinton administration? He ushered through pardons for 16 Puerto Rican terrorists in the last days of the Clinton administration. To refresh your memory the following excerpt from the Los Anglos Times: - More...
Thursday PM - February 05, 2009

Middle Class Bailout Petition By Peg Travis - The petition and article were well done and we do need to sign and get it to our politicians as soon as possible. - More...
Thursday PM - February 05, 2009

RE: Horrible roads By Thomas Thrush - Where do you think that snow and ice will go if not into the bay? I too applaud the government workers who worked hard to keep our steets and highways drivable. I also like the berm ideas, it's safer. - More...
Thursday PM - February 05, 2009

Performing Arts Center By Lallette Kistler - I would like to thank the Borough Assembly for taking a giant step towards making a Performing Arts Center in Ketchikan a reality. They recently endorsed the contribution of $500,000 in cruise ship head tax funds to go towards the First City Players purchase of the old Fireside/Elks Club building. - More...
Tuesday PM - February 03, 2009

MIDDLE CLASS BAILOUT APPLICATION FORM By David G. Hanger - Realizing as they should have that the Congress of the United States forfeits both its moral authority and its actual authority to govern by representing only the one percent of this country that has managed to steal so much from everyone else, and in recognition of the precedent established that when the fox steals all the hen-house chickens, the U.S. Government gives the fox another hen-house full of chickens, we the vast physical majority of the U.S. citizenry do hereby apply for relief from impoverishment and from the need to support all these rich bastards who have lied, cheated, and stolen all of us into this abhorrent mess. Since the U.S. Congress has seen fit to finance the whims of the criminal elements of our society, indeed has seen fit to limit communication essentially to only the minions of that criminal element (lobbyists), and has seen fit to cater to their needs and not to the needs of the vast majority of the honest, hard-working citizens of this country, it is only appropriate that the precedents established to support this criminal element also be used to support the honest, ordinary citizens of this country. - More...
Tuesday PM - February 03, 2009

Sales Tax By Justin Carro - I noticed a lot of discussion about sales tax lately. Taxes are an unfortunate part of life and though necessary to run the parts of our government most of us appreciate. However, one thing that we need to keep in mind is that we have nearly the highest sales tax rates in the state. Let that sink in just a bit -- highest sales tax rates in the state, because that is exactly what we will have if we raise them at all. This is counter-productive to keeping our position as a regional hub. - More...
Tuesday PM - February 03, 2009

Offensive By Gerry Knasiak - First let me assure Mr. Rob Holston that should you have any opinions that are repugnant to me I would defend your right to have them; they belong to you. Having said that I would add that that right stops, as it should have at the Cabaret performance on Friday , January 23,, 2009, when you blatantly included as part of your act something that obviously reflects your opinion that can only be termed racist. - More...
Tuesday PM - February 03, 2009

Direction Please! By James Schenk - Thank you for this forum, I enjoy its content and our citizens participation in community concerns. What I don't understand is why all the negativity? If this forum is available why not utilize it to build our community, rather than criticize its failings? When you build something you take into account what that something's strengths and weaknesses are. Then you begin to find ways to change the weakness to strength. - More...
Tuesday PM - February 03, 2009

Poor Herring Stocks By John Arthur - This is in response to Larry Demmert's Letter to the Editor. You can sure tell Mr. Demmert knows "nothing" about healthy herring stocks. Maybe he should come to Sitka and visit the Pioneer Home and senior centers and learn all about "Healthy Herring Stocks" here in Sitka. - More...
Tuesday PM - February 03, 2009

The price of gas By Jim Dornblaser - The price of fuel (gas included) is regulated by the demand on a base amount of supply. We are living in a capitalistic free market society & I for one am GLAD, HAPPY, wouldn't want it any other way. - More...
Tuesday PM - February 03, 2009

Thank you for the help By Judith Green - This morning as I was trying to get out of my driveway, my car got high centered. SO the car was half in the drive and half on the South Tongass Highway, at the bottom of Shoup St. While standing there trying to figure out how to un-do, an AP&T employee saw the dilemma, turned around and stopped to assist. Then a neighbor on Shoup St saw, and stopped and came over to assist. Then a truck with a snow plow attahment stopped in the middle of the highway to stop traffic from both directions, and voila! the car was freed and I was ready to go. - More...
Tuesday PM - February 03, 2009

Underneath the Politics By Tim Reveri - When my Grandpa entered the hospital two weeks before my birthday, it was supposed to be for a simple operation. It was so minor that my parents almost forgot to tell me. The procedure went off without a hitch, and my dad visited him the next day, telling me later that my Grandpa was his normal, albeit incoherent, grouchy self. He spent his time in bed bemoaning the Yankees pitching staff to the family. Two days later, he suddenly fell into critical condition, he had been retaining fluid in his stomach but, since there were only two nurses tasked to the entire hospital floor, it had gone unnoticed. My grandpa had gotten up to go to the bathroom and ended up not seeing the next morning. - More...
Tuesday PM - February 03, 2009

Horrible Roads By Jerilyn Lester - I would like to inform Ms. Lawrence that as soon as the city could move the snow they did. The EPA has told them they could not dump it into the bay because of the chemicals that are put onto the road. When they remove the snow this time should we suggest that they dump it into your yard? Or is there somewhere else that you would like it put? I don't want it in my yard, but I have to agree with Mr. Young that for you to complain is completely uncalled for. - More...
Tuesday PM - February 03, 2009

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